The state of Missouri requires certain vaccines to be able to enroll in school. Most people know they need a complete shot record to be able to enroll in kindergarten but there are also requirements prior to 8th grade and 12th grade. Before 8th grade, students need to have received 1 dose of MCV4 (meningococcal) vaccine and TdaP which is a tetanus/whooping cough vaccine. Before 12th grade enrollment, a student needs 2 doses of MCV4 (meningococcal) with one of the doses being after age 16 years.

In our office, we routinely give the needed vaccines at age 11 and 16 years of age (long before the 8th and 12th grade). The school district has arranged for the health department to come to the schools to administer vaccines to those students that need them but if your child has been getting their recommended yearly checkups with their pediatrician, your child likely has already received those vaccines.

You can obtain a copy of your child’s immunizations by stopping by any of our 3 locations during business hours. If you are still in need of those vaccines for your child, we would be happy to schedule you an appointment and a checkup as well.